Summary of ideas submitted in the Other category…

• Greater investment and support in the SME markets and in a number of ways - support the writing of business cases.
• Halve employer’s PRSI for two years for every employer and for an extra two years for an export orientated job created in that period. Pay for this with higher DIRT tax and Capital Gains Tax.
• Have a “dog catcher” who will actively catch dogs roaming the streets without an owner, and make the owners pay a fee for their dog on the loose.
• Have a barter/swap website where people can give and receive services and goods.
• Have a facility on our phones to register oneself as a donor. All the relevant information (name, next of kin, blood group etc.) could be stored either on the phone or by the phone company - this whole idea could be sponsored by the phone companies.
• Have a key worker in every community and bring all these skilled workers together to, say, paint a room in a person’s house who would not normally be able to afford to do it.
• Have a national government, where the Senate should not be abolished but be more inclusive. The President should have far more power, much like that of France.
• Have a radio programme every morning that promotes positive practical philosophies for everyday living.
• Have a system where people can rate the ideas that you present.
• Have a system whereby loss-making companies can apply to stay open by employing university students on short-term work experiences in fields generally related to their course subjects/expected career area, similar to University of Limerick’s co-op programme. Only loss-making companies could qualify and any excess profit made would be given to the state.
• Have highly skilled unemployed people apply their knowledge to help restructure government bodies.
• Have no more Lotto rollovers during this recession. If there is no winner of the weekly jackpot allocate it to a specific government department to reduce budget deficit.
• Have relaxation and joy classes in the waiting rooms of hospitals.
• Have the draft budget reviewed by six non-politically attached people to see if they will deem it to be fair to all.
• Health insurance for all.
• Healthcare institutions: staff use supplies without knowing the cost of each item. As a result more expensive options can be chosen when a cheaper option was available. Have the unit price of each item displayed on the box in the clinical room for all staff to see. The cost of doing this is minimal and the savings will be thousands every year.
• Hobbies will be very important in people’s lives now as shopping takes a back seat.
• Hold a lotto separate to the National Lottery.
• Hold music and dance Olympics in Ireland to boost tourism.
• Homeopathy can help with stress, anxiety, mental and physical illness, and the beauty of it is that it rebalances the imbalances and need for treatment reduces over time, making it economical and affordable for everyone. Irish Society of Homeopaths could have some input on a national level to encourage businesses to consider homeopathy as an option in healthcare.
• Homes are being taken back from people who cannot pay their mortgages. Don’t sell these at a knockdown price on the open market. Make them available as social or affordable housing to tackle the next stage problem we will have - growing public housing waiting lists.
• Horse breeders should have to pay tax.
• Hospitals should be run along the same lines as hotels. Everyone has a private room with TV en suite etc.
• How many homes around Ireland have large jars of copper coins which are not in circulation? Bring these back into circulation to fund new business ideas or support social and voluntary initiatives.
• HSE should release funds to support families to pay for their care in nursing homes.
• HSE: a registration fee of €10 for patients visiting hospitals. Increase day care faculty from €3.50 to €10. Provide voluntary retirement option for office staff above 55 and reduce the work hours from 10 am to 3pm. Stop maternity leave benefit until end of recession period or reduce to two months.
• HSE: if key stakeholders such as service-user organisations are given a ‘vote’ at the board of management and have the ability to decide where public money is spent in health, we may be able to question some of the wasteful practices that abound.
• Huge savings can be made in the spending budgets of all government departments and public bodies by simply dispensing with the system whereby they lose their money allocation next year if they do not manage to spend it all in the current year.
• I believe a general election is needed.
• I believe our recovery will come from within, and people should be encouraged by every means possible to at least consider the idea that they should ‘Buy Irish First’.
• I propose that a house swap situation could develop through a national website like myhome.ie etc. where people are allowed a trade-in value on their home.
• I propose that a Local Money Movement survey be undertaken by the Chambers of Commerce based in each town in Ireland. This could be done in cooperation with the local Leader company. This looks at how much money is being kept in the area depending on where we spend, how we spend it and how the producers are sourcing there materials, i.e. as close to town as possible.
• I propose that local authorities, in co-operation with the Department of Energy, Communications and Natural Resources, create a network of structured neutral ducts and street-side cabinets which could be used by any broadband provider that needs access to homes.
• I propose that social welfare/dole payments are restructured to allow all employers public sector and private sector to employ people for one or two days per week by diverting social welfare/dole payment to the employer using a pro-rata system based on numbers currently employed full-time.
• I propose that telephone kiosks can be utilised by local business for the benefit of the community. The 2151 telephone kiosks which Eircom is proposing to remove and scrap should be acquired by the Government on behalf of the people.